Arcangelo Corelli is considered to be the noble father of the Italian violin school due to the formal balance of his compositions. However it is with G. Tartini that the language of the violin starts to pave the way to modernity.In the Sonata by Corelli, here played with Tartini’s instrumental ‘diminutions’, the audience can appreciate the new virtuosity of the Venetian Maestro. This is an undoubtful sign of his artistic commitment which is the result of diverse interests, from acoustics to the theory of music and, last but not least, his teaching activity.The following two Sonatas, Sonata in D major ‘Pastorale’ and Sonata L’Arte dell’Arco, clearly show elements not only of the virtuosistic instrumental change, but also – and more deeply - of the numerous novelties introduced in the field of musical expression. In the Sonata in D major Tartini expands the palette of colours in the harmony by legitimating the “corruption” of the instrument with the use of scordatura, while in the Sonata L’Arte dell’Arco, where the purpose is clear in the title itself, the author points the way to an effective performance of the rhythmic figures which are at the basis of the endless Variazioni of the Sonata.The Sonata by Antonio Vandini, who is a cello virtuoso and Tartini’s biographer, certainly owes to the Maestro some of the harmonic solutions and musical figures. His work is undoubtedly the result of a great school of composition, enriched by a personal originality, which foreshadows the sober structures of Enlightenment.After Antonio Vivaldi’s keyboard transcription, which will endlessly surprise the listeners for the quality of its cantabile - including those who are well acquainted with the Red Priest’s art - the record ends with the Sonata of Opera 2 by Francesco Maria Veracini. The cosmopolitan nature of the artist, who lived in London’s stimulating environment (how can one forget the fruitful rivalry between Veracini and Geminiani!), strongly appears in the tonal passages and in the vortex of the phrases, which reflect all the experience of the baroque figures. In Veracini’s Sonata we witness a musical experience which, far from being empty virtuosity, moves through two centuries of music history.